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Stepped back on the mat after a two week break to allow my hand to recover sufficiently and the wound to close. I still can't really use my thumb since it hurts to even put the smallest amount of pressure on the thumb but beginner's class isn't too bad. I just warn my partner before hand not to touch the thumb and bandage it so there's always a clear visual indication as to which thumb it is.

Pins are definitely harder to execute properly but throws are ok since they don't require such fine use of the digits. The ukemi isn't too bad as long as i'm not thrown to hard since slapping with that hand on the mat isn't exactly a great option right now to dissipate the energy of the throw.

I'll probably stick with beginners' class for now until the thumb recovers a little bit more.

Fukakusa Sensei is doing his annual visit to my dojo and it's always instructive and illuminating to see him in action. Not to mention humbling . I feel like a beginner all over again because I feel like there are so many things I'm simply not getting as I've never been that good a visual learner and there are most certainly a bunch more things I don't even know I'm not getting.

I was lucky to be partnering two guys who are actually a lot better than me the last two sessions though so they caught more of the subtlety of the movements and helped me try and discover those aspects.

We did a lot of moves where we had to slip to the side very slightly. Just enough to "enter". And I found a lot of the time I wasn't either raising my hands up at the initial movement in a sword hand movement to protect myself and meet the attack just before sliding slightly to the side.

Either that or i was simply not "entering" deeply enough so that I was close enough to launch a response that came from my centre.

So many things, so little time....all I can say is I hope I remember to drill these little movements as without the followup practice, it's all going to fade away fast.